IBWA Supports National Groundwater Awareness Week

The week focuses on America’s need to protect and maintain water from underground aquifers

The International Bottled Water Assn. (IBWA) is a sponsor of National Groundwater Awareness Week, March 10 to 16, 2013. The annual commemoration marking America’s need to protect and maintain water from underground aquifers is spearheaded by the National Ground Water Assn. (NGWA).

“The protection and appreciation of the role groundwater plays in our lives is very important, and each of us can do something to be a good groundwater steward,” said Chris Hogan, vice president of communications for IBWA. “The bottled water industry recognizes the importance of protecting the quantity and quality of the world’s water. Bottled water companies that produce groundwater products (e.g., spring water, artisan water) are entirely dependent upon a safe, fresh supply of constantly recharged and replenished water for their livelihood. Many public water systems draw at least a portion of their water supply from groundwater, so protecting this renewable resource also helps ensure municipal water supplies are safe and treatment costs are reduced.”

Even though it is a minimal groundwater user and is only one of among thousands of food, beverage and commercial water users, bottled water companies actively support comprehensive groundwater management policies that are science-based, multi-jurisdictional, treat all users equitably and provide for future needs of this important resource.

Bottled water companies utilize and manage water resources in a highly efficient and responsible manner by investing in broadly accepted science and technology to improve water quality, and strengthening water conservation practices. In 2009, IBWA commissioned a life-cycle inventory (LCI) by Franklin Associates to determine the environmental footprint of the U.S. bottled water industry. The results showed that the bottled water industry has an extremely small environmental footprint. (For more information on the LCI, click here.)

Groundwater Awareness Week and NGWA play important roles in educating the public about how matters such as water well flooding, abandoned water wells, naturally occurring contamination and poor well maintenance can affect groundwater quality. For families, businesses or farms relying on wells, it is especially important to protect groundwater resources.

While groundwater is a renewable natural resource that is replenished through the hydrologic cycle, the duration of the replenishment cycle is influenced by weather patterns, recharge areas, and characteristics, geologic settings and other site-specific factors. The primary effort of protecting and managing groundwater resources must be based on a solid foundation of appropriate and reasonably applied science. The flux, flow, recharge rate, surface water influence and impact, zone of contribution and other factors affecting a groundwater resource must be analyzed and considered in the design of a management plan.